MYOB announces $1.75 bln buyout offer from KKR

Australia's MYOB Group on Monday said private equity firm KKR & Co proposed to buy shares it does not already own in the cloud services provider for about $1.75 billion after bagging a 17.6 per cent stake in MYOB from Bain Capital Abacus Holdings, L.P.

KKR paid about $327.4 million, or $3.15 per share, for the stake from Bain to build up its hold in MYOB to 19.9 per cent. It's buyout offer is $3.70 cash per share.

MYOB shares gained close to 19 per cent on Monday's news, to sit at $3.54 at 10:30am. Close to 2.4 million shares changed hands in the first hour of trade, worth $8.8 million.

MYOB said in a statement said its board has commenced an assessment of the proposal.

KKR's proposal follows another deal in 2017 wherein it acquired Australian non-bank lender Pepper Group for about $682 million.

After the share sale, Bain Capital has a remaining hold of about 6.1 per cent in MYOB.

Reuters